In an increasingly networked world, more and more traffic, such as data, voice, and video, is transmitted over public and proprietary networks. Wireless networks, in particular, are increasingly popular as networks though which subscribers obtain both voice services (e.g., telephone calls) and data services (e.g., email and web surfing).
An operator of a wireless network, such as a cellular network, may simultaneously operate a number of different wireless network technologies, such as a Third Generation (3G) cellular access network and a Fourth Generation (4G) cellular access network. In addition, Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, is a 4G wireless network technology, which is built on a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access 3G network protocol, and offers high-speed wireless cellular network connectivity through mobile computing devices. Furthermore, Wi-Fi is a wireless technology that enables several types of computing devices, including personal computers and mobile phones, to connect to a wireless network through a router.
LTE technologies provide data transfer speeds of between 100 megabits per second and one gigabit per second. The Wi-Fi standards transfer data between 11 Mbps and 600 Mbps. An assortment of conditions and situations can cause these speeds to vary, such as bad weather, network traffic and the capabilities of each device. The LTE standards enable connected devices and enable widespread network coverage, typically nationwide. Wi-Fi computing devices, however, must remain within 300 feet of a wireless router to maintain wireless network functionality.
Network providers, such as Verizon Wireless®, sell public mobile (usually cellular) network access or capacity to subscribers, with plans that typically impose a monthly usage allowance. For a fixed fee, subscribers can send and receive content up to their monthly usage allowance, after which they incur additional charges for additional units of data service usage. The allowance and further usage charges, however, are independent of the network conditions at times of data communications. In response, users of network capacity are sensitive to their total consumption but not sensitive to network loading levels. To satisfy user needs, access providers must build out their networks to handle large peaks in subscriber traffic. This situation is particularly problematic for the air interface, where interface traffic peaks, typically, occur only during limited time periods and on a limited number of cells. This leaves a huge amount of network data carrying capacity idle during non-peak periods.
Subscribers often prefer to off-load their data traffic to other network facilities that offer lower cost transport, such as Wi-Fi which usually does not involve a data volume based fee structure. It is advantageous for a network provider to know when and how much of its LTE network traffic is being off-loaded to a Wi-Fi network. The Wi-Fi off-load question is relevant, for example, during a large sports event, when the network provider may be operating its own Wi-Fi network, in addition to its own 3G, or 4G LTE network. A network provider may also want to know the Wi-Fi off-load factor for daily operations, such as how much of its own subscribers are off-loading their smartphone data traffic to a home Wi-Fi network (for example).
In general, knowing the Wi-Fi off-load factor helps the network provider determine how much is being saved using Wi-Fi, as compared to extending its own cellular network (for example, adding Cell-on-Wheels capability in a sports arena). Knowing the Wi-Fi off-load factor helps the network provider estimate and plan for large events. Hence, a need exists for providing a non-invasive method and system to detect that a device (for example, an Android device) is transmitting over Wi-Fi, instead of a cellular network.